Nathan Jones - Determination

Then again, his squad might’ve been so focused on the patrol they missed seeing anything else.

That wasn’t important at the moment. His people were in a good position for cover from the road below, but completely defenseless to attack from the north and pinned down by the blockheads in the thicket.

It was an ugly situation, and he could only see one solution. “Tom, find whoever’s shooting at my team and pin them down if you can. I’m going to lay cover fire down on the blockheads below. We’ll return the favor for your team once we’ve made it to safety. Everyone else on my team, get to the cover of the thicket !”

There was complete silence over the radio for several seconds before he heard any confirmation. Bolting to the scrub oak would require running down a steep slope, crossing dozens of yards of open space. That would put them in the crosshairs of the enemy on the road as well as in the thicket. But it had to be done or they’d end up pinned down with inadequate cover, being shot at from multiple directions until they were all dead.

The same thing they’d tried to do to the enemy patrol.

Trev grit his teeth, mentally preparing himself for getting shot, and rolled up out of his dip and right over the other side to another depression, which hopefully would shield him from shots from the north. It did nothing to keep him out of the crosshairs of anyone on the road below, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. As soon as he thought he was covered he immediately halted his roll, raised up on his elbows, and lifted his rifle, searching the road leading into the tangle.

He saw one soldier peering out from the thicket, firing somewhere off to Trev’s right, and hastily lined up to fire. The man went down, revealing his lower half, and Trev fired a second burst where he wasn’t covered with body armor.

Trev immediately searched for another target in the thicket, sincerely hoping his people were taking this opportunity to bolt for safety in the trees. He fully expected to be shot soon, and he wanted to get out of there before that happened.

He saw muzzle flashes from behind some bushes and aimed at the spot. After a few bursts the flashes stopped, but he couldn’t be sure if that was because he’d taken out the blockhead or if the man had simply stopped shooting so he wouldn’t be a target.

Bullets thudded into the ground to his right, and Trev instinctively rolled away from them. He really wished he had better cover. Once he completed his roll he looked around desperately for the source of the shots. He saw more muzzle flashes from the thicket, on the other side of the road this time. Although he wasn’t overjoyed at being a target for them, at least they weren’t shooting at Tom’s people. He aimed for the spot and fired, and the muzzle flashes disappeared.

From in the thicket off to his right he heard a scream. One of his people, shot while trying to get to cover? Trev clenched his teeth in helpless frustration and kept searching for more targets, aware of shots thudding into the ground around him. Whoever it was shooting from the north had found a better position.

“I’m in the trees laying down cover fire, Trev!” Rick abruptly shouted over the radio. “Get out of there!”

Trev wasted no time throwing himself down the hill. The next few seconds were a blur as he tumbled in an uncontrolled roll towards the thicket below, aware of the whine of ricochets around him. He somehow reached the bottom of the slope still holding his gun and lurched to his feet, ducking and zigzagging towards the copse where Alice waved frantically for him to hurry.

As he ran he desperately toggled his radio. “Are you there, Vernon? We ran into an ambush and we need help!”

There was a pause that seemed to last forever with gunfire all around him, the trees seeming impossibly far away. In the frantic chaos of shots hitting the ground between his legs he was almost surprised when the former sheriff answered. “An ambush? You don’t say.”

Trev grit his teeth. “Where are you?”

“Back at the canyon, guarding it. What part of “It’s a bad idea” was hard for you to understand?”

He finally reached the nearest scrub oak and threw himself through the tough, jagged branches. With adrenaline surging through him he barely noticed the scrapes and jabs. He forced his way in deeper to where Alice waited, screaming into the mic. “You never actually said you wouldn’t help, and now we’re getting hit by blockheads from your direction!”

“Then it’s a good thing me and my boys stayed put.” The radio crackled and went silent with finality. For a moment Trev saw red with pure rage at the former sheriff’s betrayal.

He wasn’t the only one. A few members of his squad cursed over the radio, yelling at the man until Trev snapped for them to keep the airwaves clear.

“What do we do, Trev?” Rick shouted from his cover nearby.

Trev snapped off a shot at a muzzle flash to the east of them. It was getting dark fast, to the point where those flashes were immediately noticeable even in his peripheral vision. Instead of breaking off under his attack more muzzle flashes joined the first, and he ducked back behind cover fighting the urge to curse. “We’ve got to cover Tom’s people so they can get to the thicket.”

“No need,” the older man growled. Trev hadn’t realized he’d left his mic on when answering Rick. “We managed to reach the trees, those of us who’re still alive. Not sure how many that is, to be honest, but I’m sure Ray Colby’s dead. And we’ve got wounded.”

“We’ll come help,” Trev said, clenching his teeth around the words. He couldn’t afford to be angry at himself right now. Plenty of time for that later.

“Don’t you dare, kiddo. It’s hairy here like you wouldn’t believe, feels like we’re getting shot at from all sides. You’d just add to the confusion. The only thing we’ve got going for us is that in the dark, especially in this thick tangle, the person who shoots first fires his last. If you catch my drift.”

It was true. The gunfire continued from the few remaining blockheads on the road, and those who’d ambushed them from the north. But within the scrub oak nobody was firing. In fact, aside from Trev’s own shouting he didn’t hear much in the way of talking, either.

He lowered his voice. “Everyone switch to night vision and go slow and quiet for the canyon. Don’t fire unless it’s absolutely necessary. If we’re lucky the enemy isn’t still in front of us, or if they are they won’t have night vision of their own. We might be able to sneak past, or take out anyone who gets in our way.”

Tom took a while to reply, and his voice was doubtful. “We’ve got pretty dense thickets of scrub oak between us and there. If we try to break through with enemies at our backs, not to mention probably ahead and to the sides, it’s going to be a fustercluck.”

“It already is.” Trev shook his head and shifted position, fumbling out his goggles and flicking them on. With the improved visibility he began searching for his team, as well as a path ahead through the snarl of iron-hard branches and roots. “Good thing we know the area better than them.”

His team had scattered surprisingly far during their break for the safety of the tangle, and it took agonizing minutes to gather them together. At least aside from Fred Donnell they all seemed to be in one piece, although from the sounds of it Tom’s team had taken the brunt of the ambush.

But Trev couldn’t afford to think of the people he’d lost right now.

While he waited for everyone to get ready Trev radioed in a report to Davis. First thing the sergeant did was tear into him for not giving advance notice of his planned ambush. Next he got shouted at for not calling for backup when things went south.